Minimum qualifications for a Morrow police officer include: Current Georgia POST Certification or volunteer experience with the City of Morrow, a valid Georgia drivers license, high school diploma/GED, and be 21 years of age. The ideal candidate will have college/military background, POST certification, and law enforcement experience. The Morrow Police Department is a progressive, community oriented police department. The City of Morrow is an equal opportunity employer. Female and minority applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

Any interested applicant is encouraged to apply and seek additional information. Go to Careers above, then Police Department and submit an application online.

Applicants first attend a group meeting where department expectations are explained, a question and answer session follows, and necessary paperwork is completed. Drivers history, criminal history, and credit checks will be done. Physical ability tests are administered, followed by psychological, polygraphs and physicals.

All newly hired full or part time employees shall undergo departmental and City of Morrow directed orientation training.

All new hire officers undergo a Field Training Program upon successful completion of the basic mandate academy if required, or upon initial employment if the employee is an experienced Georgia Certified Police Officer. Previously non-certified officers will spend a minimum of 6 weeks and a maximum of 12 weeks in the program. Experienced officers will spend a minimum of 4 weeks in the program.

Annual starting salary for the position of Certified Police Officer is $39,000 - 45,000 DOQ (Depending on Qualifications) and Un-Certified Officer is $28,500.

Officers accrue 80 hours of annual leave per year. After five years of service officers accrue 120 hours annual leave. 160 hours may be carried over to the next year. Employees are eligible to take annual leave after 6 months of employment.

Employees accrue 96 hours of sick leave per year. 480 hours may be carried to the next year. Employees are eligible at the date of hire. If no sick leave is taken throughout the year, then 24 hours of additional annual leave is awarded to that employee for the next year.

Officers are given 88 hours of holiday leave per year. Eligibility for the first year is relative to the date of hire. No holiday hours are carried over to the next year.

The department supplies officers with all uniforms and duty gear accessories, excluding underwear and socks. A uniform allowance is given each officer yearly for the replacement of uniform items. No allowance may be carried over to the next year.

The department allows the privilege of the use of a city vehicle for take home use for officers who maintain a full time permanent residence inside the city limits of Morrow. This policy is subject to certain regulations and restrictions.

A college tuition reimbursement plan is available to all employees who have successfully completed the first year of service. Course studies must be job related.

The City Medical Insurance Carrier is Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The City pays 100% of employee premium and 50% of the employee's dependent insurance premium.

Dental Insurance Carrier is Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. City pays the employees premium, while the employee pays the dependent premium.

Georgia Municipal Association (retirement carrier) . City contributes 100% for employee participation. Employee is vested after 10 years. Employee is eligible for retirement in thirty years.

Optional benefits include: Flex-Spending Plan, Deferred Compensation, Short Term Disability Insurance, Peace Officers Annuity and Benevolent Fund.

Departmental Philosophy:

As the Chief Executive Officer of the Morrow Police Department I am responsible for the goals and the results of this organization. I take this commission very seriously and desire to perform my obligations to the highest degree of achievement. I am also tasked with setting the vision and tempo of our department and its officers. With that duty in mind, you will see several maxims displayed throughout our buildings: “Disciplined Thought, Disciplined People, Disciplined Action”, “Do it, Do it Right, Do it Right Now” and “Perform or Perish”. The first two are self explanatory and the third embodies the complexity of our mission. It embraces the seriousness of what we as law enforcement officers do and risk every day, it reminds us how important a part we play on the City of Morrow Team and it reinforces the reality that if we don’t perform our jobs to the highest mark possible the viability of our area wanes and so does our effectiveness.

With these momentous tasks in mind and with the visionary leadership of our City Fathers and our City Manager we have determined that a businesslike approach to our city’s challenges is communally desirable in all city departments. This mindset is the cornerstone of our philosophies at the Morrow Police Department. I have derived and implemented a number of actionable points and goals from the book “Good to Great” by Jim Collins. City Manager John Lampl has taken this blueprint seriously enough to make the book mandatory reading for all city employees. The essence of the theory encapsulates the notion that an organization may be “good” but in order to make the leap to “great” it must identify the right people and put them in the right places in the organization, it must be willing to challenge the things it does and look for the best practices to accomplish these goals and it must always be forward looking and flexible. The Morrow Police Department intends to be GREAT.

Another book that I proliferate and train my staff on is “212° – The Extra Degree” by S.L. Parker. The principle in this book is simply that water is warm at 211° but boils at 212° thus creating energy. That energy generated by just a degree more in effort is powerful enough to drive a ship or a train. If we as individuals, teams and organizations can strive on a daily basis to produce that extra effort we can accomplish wonders. By discipline we can make this a mindset and a habit thereby producing the best results possible for our citizens by our law enforcement professionals.

While we incorporate a vast number of management philosophies in order to create “an extreme paradigm shift” these two are the most transparent in our modus operandi. I regularly caution applicants that this is not your typical law enforcement agency. We are not satisfied with the status quo. Productivity, Creativity and Accountability Leadership are our measuring sticks. It is my desire “To acquire and retain the right people, those who are productively neurotic, those who are self-motivated and self-disciplined, those who wake up every day, compulsively driven to do the best they can because it is simply part of their DNA.”, because you, the citizens of Morrow, deserve that commitment..

Jeffery C. Baker, Chief of Police